Demonic Bacchus

Police Detective Fanis Vassileiou froze in terror that night facing the horrible crime. He was certain this case would be a milestone in his career. But he couldn't begin to imagine the avalanche of events that would follow. It never crossed his mind that, in his efforts to solve it, surprise would lead to terror every step of the way. Young journalist Athena Sgourou, covering the case, gets deeper and deeper in the monster's lair. Like any other normal person, she finds the evidence hard to believe, but the truth confounds her in every turn of her research. When she feels the breath of the beast it will be too late. Something dark has spread over Xanthi. In villages, forests and gorges, an ancient smell thickens the air. It is the smell of the old, the Great Hunter, the Horned One, the Raw Eater… the demonic Bacchus. An original thriller set in Northern Greece describing actual Greece and a department of it, Thrace, where survive many of the ancient bacchanal festivals; anastenaria (fire-walking), during which men walk atop burning coals and then slaughter a bull; the feast of Babo (granny), when men dress up in women's clothes and women parade the streets wielding phallic-shaped sculptures; binge-drinking, and many other such festivals organized by folklore clubs.